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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In Chapter 5, When is Marion planning to bring Franklin to Memphis?

2. In Chapter 5, Ruth has just moved back to Memphis from where?

3. What does Taft feel his in-laws use against him?

4. In Chapter 6, what does Ruth insist about John's drumming?

5. In Chapter 1, what is John doing to fend off depression?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the nature of Ruth and John's visit together in the midst of Chapter 6?

2. Describe the interchange between John and Fay in Chapter 5.

3. What do John and Fay do at the battlefield in Chapter 4?

4. Why does John buy cigarettes in Chapter 5?

5. Describe the interchange between Carl and John in Chapter 4?

6. How does Fay describe her family to John In Chapter 6?

7. Describe the interchange John has with Cyndi in Chapter 4?

8. What do Marion and John discuss at the end of Chapter 5?

9. What call does John Nickel make at work in Chapter 2?

10. What interchange do Fay and John have before parting in Chapter 4?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout the novel, many of Carl Taft's true objectives remain unknown to John Nickel and the reader. Write an essay discussing how these objectives are obscured and finally revealed. What drives Carl after his arrival in Memphis, and why is he treated as a lovable screw-up? How does this notion of his harmlessness prove to be incorrect? Discuss how Patchett reveals the fallacy of this notion, and what changes in the world of the novel after it is revealed.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay about Patchett's portrayal of the modern Deep South in the novel. What is left of the specter of Jim Crow in the South? How do the remnants of segregation and racism manifest themselves in the narrative? Discuss how this nascent bigotry affects the character of John Nickel. Why does it make him more reticent to connect with Fay Taft? Is the city really as racist as he believes?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay about the character of Fay Taft and how she is portrayed in the novel. To what extent if Fay an enigmatic character? How do both John and her father struggle to understand her and what she wants in her life? What fears do other characters have for her? In the end, is Fay a strong or a weak individual? What challenges and conflicts does Patchett use to reveal her essential character in the novel?

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